Venezuela’s offer of asylum could be NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden’s “last chance” to avoid extradition to the US, an influential member of the Russian parliament suggested Sunday.

Alexei Pushkov, who chairs the Duma’s foreign affairs committee and is seen to have the ear of the Kremlin, made the comment in a tweet, having previously stated his views that a move to Caracas would be the “best solution” for the fugitive.

Snowden is believed to be holed up in transit area of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, having arrived from Hong Kong two week’s earlier but unable to progress further.

But on Friday and Saturday, three South America countries – Bolivia, Nicaragua and Venezuela – offered asylum to the man wanted in the US for leaking documents unveiling the extent of its domestic and international surveillance programme.